A ChucksConnection Film Review

 

Nico Hiraga wears black high top Converse “Chuck Taylor” All Stars in the film.

Sweethearts

 

by Marcus Angulo

The opening credits are a montage that showcases Ben and Jamie’s friendship.

 

For college freshmen, the first semester is a time of major changes. Living on your own for the first time at a new school, usually in a new city, can lead to being homesick for that high school life, those first few months. That’s why, as Fall rolls in, freshmen all over the country look forward to going home for Thanksgiving, and especially the night before. Yes, Thanksgiving Eve, aka “Blackout Wednesday”, aka “Dranksgiving”, is the first time college freshmen get to return home and see their friends from high school and see how everyone has changed. For those who stayed in their high school relationships, Blackout Wednesday may be your first (and last) chance to finally call it quits on something that is unlikely to last. Sweethearts is a romcom that follows a pair of friends as they navigate this insane national holiday. The film stars Kiernan Shipka, Nico Hiraga, Caleb Hearon, Tramell Tillman, Charlie Hall, and Ava DeMary, and was released on Max on November 28, 2024.

 

The credits show you immediately how cool Ben is in his chucks.

The film follows Ben (Hiraga) and Jamie (Shipka), two lifelong best friends who are in their first semester of college. They are as tight as friends can be, so much so that everyone thinks they’re co-dependent and/or dating. However, they are actually both in long-distance relationships with their high school sweethearts. Ben’s girlfriend Claire (DeMary) is controlling and clingy, while Jamie is bored with her boyfriend, Simon (Hall), and struggles to develop friendships due to childhood trauma related to bullying. Jamie pushes Ben to set boundaries with Claire and his roommate, and Ben pushes Jamie to let her guard down and make friends. Unbeknownst to Jamie, Ben is planning to study abroad in Copenhagen next semester, but he hasn’t told her because he doesn’t want her to feel abandoned. The pair’s first college party is an utter disaster. Ben spends the night rebuffing the sexual advances of a drunken woman, while Jamie gets trapped in a bathroom while attempting to sext Simon. Two partygoers enter the adjoining room to have sex, and Ben attempts to sneak in to retrieve Jamie's clothes and save her, but they’re caught and ejected from the party. They resolve to end their relationships when they go home to Ohio the night before Thanksgiving. Their friend Palmer (Hearon) reveals he is also coming home then and will be hosting a coming-out party that night. They decide they’ll end the relationships then.

 

Dude, where’s my car?

 

When Ben's roommate takes his car without permission, the duo’s trip is delayed, and they are forced to take the bus. Meanwhile, at Palmer’s, Claire and Simon drink an entire bottle of absinthe and drunkenly wander into the night. Palmer goes after them, but is quickly sidetracked when he runs into Reese, the local school football coach. Palmer soon learns Coach Reese is also gay, and confides in him. Throughout the night, Reese and his longtime boyfriend help Palmer open his eyes about life in a small town and what it means to be queer, and Palmer finds newfound comfort and confidence. Meanwhile, Ben and Jamie search for Claire and Simon at the local bar, which also goes horribly wrong. Their odyssey to do these breakups takes several more twists and turns throughout what ends up being a long Thanksgiving Eve.

 

Ben runs to Jamie in the climax of the film.

 

This is the perfect holiday romcom to add to the rotation and covers a time of year that is largely overlooked. Shipka and Hiraga have incredible chemistry, and you can totally buy that they are best friends who don’t have romantic interests in each other. Every romcom lives or dies by the chemistry of its leads, and this one succeeds despite the trickier dynamic of needing your leads to be straight best friends of the opposite sex who aren’t secretly in love with each other. The rest of the cast are also funny, especially Caleb Hearon, which is no surprise considering he’s one of the funniest comedians going right now. The script is packed with jokes, and the running jokes of the lead duo’s inability to get things right bring lots of laughs. This is the kind of movie you definitely hope gets expanded on with a sequel, and the ending does leave open the possibility. Here’s hoping that we’ll get to see more of Ben and Jamie around the holidays soon.

Best Chucks Scene

 

Ben’s first day of freedom starts out great.

 

The best chucks scene in the film comes early in the movie, during a scene that can be called “Ben’s First Day of Peace”. Ben misses the Medieval Literature class he shares with Jamie because Claire Facetimes him, spiraling about her singing the National Anthem at Homecoming, and she won’t let him leave. Jamie returns from class to find him in the same spot, and he is finally released. Jamie elects to take his phone for the day so Ben can be free, and at first, he is reluctant. However, he soon relishes in his newfound freedom, skateboarding through the quad, high-fiving strangers, and enjoying the sunshine while lying on the grass. Later in the film, he says this is the first time he’s had fun since he got to college. Ben wears optical white high top chucks throughout the whole movie, and Nico Hiraga is so effortlessly cool in them, but this scene, where Ben gets to be free, is him at his coolest. He also always pairs his white chucks with some cool outfits like sleeveless cardigan sweaters and baggy jeans. This highlights that Ben is, by all accounts, cool, but his long-distance relationship is really knocking the wind out of his sails. This scene also sets up the plan to break up with Claire, so it’s a turning point plotwise as well.

 

Ben walking a tightrope just like in his relationship.

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